Mineralogy and Microstructure of Skull Versions in AO EVRAZ NTMK Blast Furnace No. 6

Results of a comprehensive study of the material composition and microstructure of 20 skull samples taken after blowing out AO EVRAZ NTMK blast furnace No. 6 are provided. More than 30 mineral and metal phases of different chemical classes are diagnosed in skull samples. Unlike the skull of blast furnaces of other metallurgical plants (NLMK, ZSMK), NTMK blast furnace skull has an abnormally high content of titanium, zinc, and vanadium compounds, as well as heavy non-ferrous metals and sulfur. On the basis of detailed petrographic analysis, five structural and genetic types (versions of composition and origin) of the skull are identified. Skull versions contain a large amount of grenal, which is dominated by refractory compounds of titanium and vanadium carbonitrides of the general formula (Ti, V)(C, N).